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Monday, December 22, 2014

Making Cookies--Sharing Time by Fran McNabb

If you haven’t gotten tired of reading blogs and articles about
Christmas, I beg a few minutes of your time for one more.

Our little dead-end street skirts the bayou and is made up of
families from all over the country. I’m a local, but we have families from
Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Virginia, the Carolinas and several other states. We try to make everyone feel at home, especially those who are unable to be
with their loved ones during the holiday season.

One day one of our neighbors admitted she cried all day the
first year she moved here because she had to bake cookies alone. All of her large family still lives in PA and one of their seasonal rituals was getting together to make Christmas cookies and candies. From then on, we’ve gotten together for an afternoon of
baking and, well, just being together.

Baking cookies is a simple way of reminding us that
Christmas might be celebrated with different traditions throughout the country
(and world), but many traditions are the same. It’s nice to have the end results
of our time together. Everyone takes home several tins of cookies, but that’s
not the best part. Sharing time together, enjoying stories of by-gone Christmases,
remembering those who are no longer with us—these are the things that are
important. Before my mother died, she
loved being part of our holiday bake day. This year is the second Christmas without her, but
even though I thought about her throughout the day, I was thrilled to have the
mother of one of my neighbors join us. It made the day complete.

Christmas brings up an array of emotions, but I hope
throughout this week, you’ll find the joy of being with those who are important
to you—and if it happens to be in the kitchen cooking together—remember that
you’re making more than something to fill your holiday dishes. You're making wonderful memories that will be with you forever.

Merry Christmas.

Fran McNabb lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and
loves to keep her family traditions alive during the holiday season. Her first
published book, A LIGHT IN THE DARK, is a Christmas themed book set in West
Virginia. Visit her at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net

My grandchildren are grown, and I love them dearly. The thing I miss most is making cookies with them. Unfortunately, the live in another state. It's so nice that you and your neighbors share this tradition. In my neighborhood there's just me, the owls, the gators, and feral cats. Ho-hum!